Posted on September 19, 2020

Austin’s Asian Community Outnumbers Black Residents for First Time, Census Data Show

Philip Jankowski, Statesman, September 17, 2020

For the first time in the history of Austin, Asian American residents now outnumber Black people in the city, according to the latest information from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The data from the bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey show that Austin is now home to 80,117 Asian people, compared to 76,480 Black residents. Austin’s Asian community is now the second-largest in the state behind only Houston, a city more than twice the size of Texas’ capital.

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The latest numbers show an abrupt about-face in the growth of Black residents living in Austin. From 2010 to 2018, the number of Black residents grew 29% from 63,504 residents to 82,148, outpacing the city’s overall growth in population over that same period, along with increases in Latino and white segments of the population. The 2019 numbers show a sudden decrease of nearly 5,700 Black residents.

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Meanwhile, the city’s Asian population has grown 71% since 2010 {snip}

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While the Black community’s share of of Austin’s overall population has continued to shrink, Black populations in many of Austin’s suburbs have grown dramatically.

The number of Black people living in Round Rock has grown 60% since 2010, according to the latest Census Bureau numbers. In Georgetown, it has nearly quadrupled. Manor and Pflugerville also saw increases in Black residents far outpacing the overall growth of those cities.

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Growth in Austin’s Hispanic community has also been sluggish and outpaced by the city’s overall growth. While that community remains the largest minority community in Austin by far, it has seen a decrease in the in its overall share of the city at large, declining by 10.3% since 2010.

Suburbs such as Cedar Park, Manor and Pflugerville also saw sharp increases in their Hispanic populations, according to Census data.

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Overall it means that Austin — whose political leadership generally prides itself on inclusiveness — is a whiter city that it was nearly 10 years ago.

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